Part of my Resurgence Series. This takes place further in the timeline with this verse, after the Promised Day. There aren't any major spoilers as far as plot goes since I've already marked this series as eventual Greed/Ed. However, I wanted to give fair warning for anyone who wants to read this series in order.

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Ed stared down at his food, slowly nudging it with his fork. He wasn't entirely sure how it was possible to fuck up dinner this bad, but what Greed put in front of him reminded him of the slop farmers fed to their pigs. The sauce had an odd, grayish hue to it and smelled like the bottom of a garbage bin. There were weird lumps in the sauce that Ed suspected to be meat (or maybe even flour), but he couldn't be entirely sure.

"Something wrong?" Greed asked as he settled in the seat catty-corner to Ed.

Ed tore his eyes away from the food and onto Greed. Oh no. Greed had the same look on his face he got whenever he did something good, something to be proud of. He felt like some poor animal caught in the headlights of a car. Ed tugged at his bottom lip with his teeth while he debated on what to do. He couldn't exactly lie to Greed yet blunt honesty felt wrong. Harsh even.

If he could eat his leather boot with Ling a few years back, then he could choke this down.

"Why would something be wrong?" Ed took a bite, and his head jerked forward a little as his mouth tried to reject the mushy texture and nasty flavor. "'S'fine." He hastily took another bite and chewed it as fast as he could. It wasn't fine. Nothing about this was fine.

He never considered himself a picky eater nor was he a gagger, but this tasted awful, and it took all his willpower not to make choking sounds. He gave a weak smile of encouragement and shoveled in another bite.

Greed grinned, clearly pleased with himself, then took a bite. Ed carefully watched as the grin disappeared and turned into disgust. His lips twitched as he tried to hold back a smile when Greed leaned back as if the food offended him.

"Damn, this taste like shit." Greed dropped his fork onto the table, grabbed his plate, leaned as far back in his seat that he could, and dumped the food in the garbage can. "How the fuck are you eating it?" he asked Ed incredulously.

Ed's eyes got a little wide and he snickered before laughter bubbled up inside of him. He leaned back in his chair with his hands on his stomach and eyes closed, and let it go.

Greed's eyes softened, and he felt something inside him squeeze. Whenever Ed laughed like that—so carefree and happy like nothing else mattered—emotion would overwhelm him. Ed's smile could light up the darkest of days, and his laugh chase away the stormiest of clouds.

Ed reminded him of the sun; his very own Goldilocks who radiated light and heat and passion in the perfect blend, and Greed wanted to be his 'just right'. It felt like he had been bathed in a golden halo that touched him to his very core and it burned. If he had had a heart it would have beat faster, but instead his stone pulsated, and all he felt was desire and something else, something deeper that threatened to swallow him whole.

He never knew whether he wanted to laugh or cry whenever this happened. Or possibly both. Instead, he gave Ed a crooked smile. "I didn't bother with the recipe." He tipped his chair back again and put his hands behind his head. "Too damned long to fuss over."

"No shit," Ed said as his laughter died down. "Maybe you should stick to making breakfast." Because, Greed cooked one hell of a mean breakfast, and Ed couldn't get enough of it.

His smiled turned cocky. "Or maybe I should stick to eating something delicious like you and let you do the cooking."

Ed's cheeks flushed but a small smile spread across his lips. "You make me breakfast every morning," He stood up and dumped the food in the trash, "and you can eat whatever deliciousness on me you want."

"How 'bout I have some of it now, then I take you for dinner?"Greed reached his hand out to touch Ed's thigh.

"Nope," Ed grinned and grabbed his coat. "Gotta feed me first," he said, dodging the touch so he could slip on out the door, knowing that Greed would be close behind him.